TY - JOUR
T1 - Post-pastoral?
T2 - Rethinking religion and the reconstruction of rural space
AU - Jones, Rhys
AU - Heley, Jesse
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - The emergence of an extensive literature exploring the post-secularism in recent years has revived interest in the role of religion in society. However, such studies are overwhelmingly focussed on the urban experience, while the relationship between rurality and post-secularism remains largely unconsidered. Set against the back-drop of challenges to rural religious organization, such as redundant buildings, merged parishes, and lack of incumbents, this paper examines the endogenous actions of lay-people in sustaining religious services. Examining the examples of Church in Wales and Muslim worshippers in rural Wales, we argue that these actions constitute a ‘post-pastoral’ experience, which although maintaining religious identities, challenge the traditional community leadership roles associated with professional clerics. As a consequence, distinctions between urban and rural experiences of post-secular activities are revealed, suggesting that the potential for the countryside to experience similar involvement of faith-based organizations in benevolent action as the city is limited. This highlights the need for more attention on training and support for lay-people by religious organizations by both academics and policy formulators.
AB - The emergence of an extensive literature exploring the post-secularism in recent years has revived interest in the role of religion in society. However, such studies are overwhelmingly focussed on the urban experience, while the relationship between rurality and post-secularism remains largely unconsidered. Set against the back-drop of challenges to rural religious organization, such as redundant buildings, merged parishes, and lack of incumbents, this paper examines the endogenous actions of lay-people in sustaining religious services. Examining the examples of Church in Wales and Muslim worshippers in rural Wales, we argue that these actions constitute a ‘post-pastoral’ experience, which although maintaining religious identities, challenge the traditional community leadership roles associated with professional clerics. As a consequence, distinctions between urban and rural experiences of post-secular activities are revealed, suggesting that the potential for the countryside to experience similar involvement of faith-based organizations in benevolent action as the city is limited. This highlights the need for more attention on training and support for lay-people by religious organizations by both academics and policy formulators.
KW - Church in Wales
KW - Endogenous action
KW - Muslims
KW - Post-secularism
KW - Religion
KW - Wales-west
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/41965
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84960361421&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.02.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.02.008
M3 - Article
SN - 0743-0167
VL - 45
SP - 15
EP - 23
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
ER -